A Generation of Difference

Comparative Essay I wrote for my English Lit class in college.

Women!  How different we have become!  Through generation to generation, we have fought to the death for our rights.  We have struggled against timeless stereotypes, and trudged our way through the deepest, murkiest waters.  Without the women of our past, none of us would have the standpoint in society as we do today.

In days gone by, before the Civil Rights Movement and before Women’s Liberation, the women in our society stood merely by as the hushed “weaker” sex.  These women had no right to vote, and, even more certainly, no right to run in elections.  They were nurturers, mothers, and keepers of the house and home.  Most often, the husbands overshadowed their wives.  Women were not an active part of the decision-making, or the financial support of their family. If they did hold jobs, or even careers, they could never hope to be promoted or compensated as highly as the men.  

In the 1960’s, the feminist movement began with the rising of Women’s Liberation.  Brave women started taking a stand against the prejudices, pushing the boundaries of an entire era.  They started realizing that there was a life outside of family and home.  And they belonged in it!  No longer were they going to be stuck in this sexist structure of power, geared fully toward the uptight machismo men.  

Through the formation of the National Organization for Women, laws and regulations restricting women have been changed to accommodate women.  The tight stranglehold that society once placed on women has loosened its grasp.  Women today have many more opportunities than the women of yesterday.  Today, we hold the right to vote, and the right to run for a public office.  One hundred years ago, a woman like Hilary Clinton would never have had the opportunity to make the impact on society as she has done.  Today, women are much more than just wives and keepers of their households.  Today we hold executive positions in Fortune 500 companies, and share the family responsibilities with our partners.  

Although the times have changed us for the better, some things will always remain the same.  We will forever be the dominant nurturers for our families.  That is a God-given characteristic that we, as women, all have in common and will never change.  In a lot of ways, we are still the “weaker” sex.  There are still sexist prejudices existent in many aspects of life, especially the workforce.  Some companies hold tight to the stigma that you shouldn’t “send a woman to do a man’s job.”  Thus, the women in these companies are kept in lower-level positions, and work at a lower level of pay.  

In this day and age, as a woman, I am proud of the women who came before me.  Without the steps that they took and the battles they fought, my freedoms would be nonexistent.  I stand today; proud to be a woman, thanks to the groundbreaking strides the women before me have taken.